Ilanthar's tests & sketches

[- JO -]

Beautiful work, so precise. The rendering is incredibly real... In some ways it's like looking at a photo taken from the space station!
But the labels are way too small...

[Ilanthar]

By Voolf
Most mountains, some rivers and other curved small labels are really hard to read. Especially those on darker background
For example Mt. Nidler. I Really had to zoom beyond 100% to be able to decipher it.

By - JO -
Beautiful work, so precise. The rendering is incredibly real... In some ways it's like looking at a photo taken from the space station!
But the labels are way too small...

Thanks a lot! Yeah, I was suspecting it. What about this? I reinforced the halo & increased the size of the labels.
LabelsT.jpg

[Voolf]

It is more legible, but for me the white halo is somehow too strong.
That may be just me, but it does not look good imo.
I had the same problem with my physical map.

Things I discovered that works (at least for me)

1. Not all labels should have halo. If they are on a bright background it actually looks better without it.
2. Different font size should have different halo thickness.
3. It is sometimes better to try and use halo colour same as background. It is connected to point 1 where no halo is actually better, but you still want to hide some background that makes the text hard to read.
4. Sometimes it is good to increase space between letters in some fonts. In your case you could try it for mountain labels. The letters are very cramped.

There is no one solution for every map as every map is different.
However, it is good to experiment with the points above.

[KMAlexander]

I've taken the white halo and placed it below my color layers. That way, it obscures the map elements below it but blends in with the colors. Really depends on how you construct your files, however.

[- JO -]

It’s better, but I think you just received very good advices !

[Ilanthar]

Thanks a lot for the help guys!

@ - JO - ; indeed!
@ Voolf : I played with some of your suggestions, but thanks for the other advices!
@KMAlexander : that's an elegant way to transfer the color.

I played with your advices, and I think it's already a lot more better. I also tested a new font for the bigger labels, which is probably more easy to read.
Elbenheim tests.jpg

[Voolf]

Looks much better indeed. I can now read all labels without straining my eyes so much.

[Ilanthar]

Looks much better indeed. I can now read all labels without straining my eyes so much.

Thanks! The help was precious & efficient. Probably some things to refine, but I guess I've found the basics. I just did a little more on the topography, expanding to the south.
NL2.jpg

[- JO -]

Wow ! It looks more and more "rich" !

[Ilanthar]

Wow ! It looks more and more "rich" !

Thanks !

Still testing about those martian maps. I'm testing icons without color and a tad smaller (on the right) what do you think?
Mars VMT WIP.jpgMars VMT WIP2.jpg